Sony A7 GeoTagging with Exiftool

sony a7 geotag exiftool gps

Smartphone Running MyTracks Showing GPS Info for Time Calibration

Geotagging your images, attaching location information, is a great way to help document your shooting.  Many services like flickr, Google, and iPhoto/Photos take advantage of the geotags to show where the image is taken.  We took a quick stroll around New York City to test out how easy geotagging Sony A7 files were.

Above shows the GPS status provided by our smartphone's built-in gps and shown by an app, GPS Status.  The third icon from the top left shows the app MyTracks is running and is logging our location along the way.  The image below shows the final product, a geotagged image.

sony a7 geotag exiftool gps



Here's a quick tutorial on geotagging your Sony A7 photos using your GPS enabled smartphone and exiftool.


  1. Download and Install Exiftool on your computer.
  2. Download and Install MyTracks or equivalent GPS logger on your smartphone.
  3. Download and Install GPS Status or equivalent GPS status provider with time on your smartphone.
  4. Record your GPS location with MyTracks.
  5. Turn on GPS Info and find your GPS status.  Take a picture showing the TIME.
  6. When done shooting, stop and save your GPS log in MyTracks.
  7. Export KML data to External Storage from MyTracks.
  8. Export photos from you Sony A7 to your computer.
  9. Add the KML file from 7 to the folder used in 8.
  10. Check the image file for the time creation value.  Compare it to the image.  This is your -geosync value.
  11. On your computer: exiftool -geosync=-00:01:00 -geotag doc.kml C:\Images
    • -geosync + if GPS clock is behind - if ahead
    • Our samples show an error. - should have been +
  12. exiftool will create copies of your original files and create new ones with geotags.
  13. Review the final images.  

Step 12. exiftool Creates A Copy with a Modified Exif


Gamma : 2.2
GPS Version ID : 2.3.0.0
GPS Latitude Ref : North
GPS Longitude Ref : West
GPS Altitude Ref : Above Sea Level
GPS Time Stamp : 18:45:14
GPS Date Stamp : 2014:10:17
PrintIM Version : 0300

Focus Distance 2 : 0.00 m
GPS Altitude : 48.4 m Above Sea Level
GPS Date/Time : 2014:10:17 18:45:14Z
GPS Latitude : 40 deg 46' 30.99" N
GPS Longitude : 73 deg 57' 48.13" W
GPS Position : 40 deg 46' 30.99" N, 73 deg 57' 48.13" W
Image Size : 7392x4920

Geotag Lines from KML Added by Exiftool




sony a7 geotag exiftool gps

sony a7 geotag exiftool gps

Sample Files with Geotag
flickr only retains exif info on original file uploaded.

Files from any DSLR or mirrorless without a built-in GPS module can be geotagged with the same method.

Read more about Geotagging and Exiftool from the Exiftool website by Phil Harvey.

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